Hydraulic transmission



Nov. 22, 1932.

E. MURPHY HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION Filed April 5. 1931 www C H15 ATToPvEv Patented Nov. l22, 1932 EDWIN L. MURPHY, or CHICAGO, ILLINoIs HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION application mea April a, 193i. serial No. 527,546.

This invention relates to certain novel improvements in hydraulic transmissions, and has for its principal object the provision of an improved construction of this character '5 which will be highly efficient in use and eco-i' nomical in manufacture.

lt is an object of this invention to provide an improved hydraulic transmission for transferring power from a drive to a driven l@ shaft, and to eliminate the use and disadvantages of gears.

llt. is another object of the invention to provide an inner rotor or impeller rotatable 'with a drive shaft and interiorly of an outer rotor connected Vto a driven shaft, and both being mounted in a fluid medium, and so ar ranged that as the impeller or inner rotor is rotated by the drive shaft pressure will be exerted thereby on the duid medium which will rotate the outer rotor and the driven shaft.

lt is another object of the invention to provide means for continuously circulating the fluid medium and transferring thereby 25' the force of the inner rotor'or impeller to the outer rotor, f

'lit is an additional object of the invention to arrange the inner rotor or impeller and the outer rotor so that after theiimpeller blades have forced the operating duid against the rotor blades and the rotor revolved by the force thus imparted thereto, the spent Huid will be free to return to the impeller without interfering with or dragging against the rotation of the rotor.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combi-l nation andarrangement of parts to be hereinafter describediand claimed. y

rlhe invention will be best understood by reference to the` accompanying drawing showing thepreferred form of construction, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the housing embodied in the invention with part thereof broken away to show the operating parts enclosed therein; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 in Fig. 3 is a fragmentary ysectional view on line 3-3 in Fig. 1; and

F Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 4 in In the drawing wherein a practical em- 55 bodiment of the invention is illustrated,a

housing embodied in the invention is indicated generally at and includes cooperating halves 11 and 12 which have similar eX- ternal ears13 detachably joined together by 50 bolts 14. ln the wall of'section 12 is a bearing surface 15 in which is lrotatably mounted a drive shaft 16 which has a shoulder 17 thereon abutting the inner end of bearing 15 so as to prevent'end play in the shaft 16. The 65 shaft 16 has a bore 18 therein into which is extended the driven shaft 20 and a thrust bearing 21 is provided between the inner end of the bore 18 and the inner end of shaft 20.

Shaft 20 is rotatably mounted in a bearing 70 surface 23 provided on the housing section 11 and a shoulder 24 on the shaft 20 prevents end play thereof The housing 10 is intended to be llcd with liquid grease or other suitable material and 75 for this purpose a plug 25 is provided at'the top of the section 11 while a drain plug 26 is pro vided on the lower side of section 11.

Formed integrally with the shaft 16 is an inner rotor or impeller indicated generally at 9 and which includes a plurality of radially arranged blades 27 which are integral with and rotatable with shaft 16 between similar discs 28 lthat are spaced `apart in the-housing 10, one in each of the sections 11 -and 12, 85 these discs 28 being welded or otherwise secured-to ribs that are integral with the side walls of the sections 11 'and 12. A collar 29 Y iloats on the shaft 16 and this collar entends through an opening 82 in one of the discs 28 90 (Fig. 1), a similar opening 32 being provided in the other disc 28. The blades 27 are concentric with the blades 34 of an outer and larger rotor indicated generally at 8 and which includes the curved or arcuate blades- 34 that extend between side plates 30 that are integral therewith. One of the side plates 30 of the outer rotor 8 floats on the collar 29 and the other side plate 30 includes a hub 36 which is keyed to shaft 20, as at 22, for ro- 100 tation therewith, both side plates 30 being are de reference to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be seen that the blades 34 of the outer rotor 8 extend outwardly from the outer ends 37 of the blades 27 of the inner rotor 9. A ln the use of the invention, the housing 10 Will be filled with a heavy or viscous liquid, such as grease, and shaft 16 will be connected to a suitable source'of power such, for examle, as the engine of an automotive vehicle. haft 16 fwill, therefore, be rotated (clocl-I wise as seen in Fig. 2) which will rotate the inner rotor 9 and its blades 27 and this rotation of blades 27 will force the 4grease by centrifugal action between the blades 34 of the outer rotor 8, and the pressure thus eX- erted on the blades 34 of the outer rotor by the rotation of blades 27 of the inner rotor will cause the rotation of outer rotor 8, and since outer rotor 8 is keyed at 22 to drive shaft 20, shaft '2O will be rotated. As the inner rotor'9 is rotated and grease l forced between the blades 34 of the outer rotor, to cause the rotation of the outer rotor, the grease will pass from between blades 34 into the passages 33 and the grease will flow. down through .passages 33, through openings 32 and 32 in stationary discs 28, and thence through slots or openings 31 in the side walls 35.

of theouter rotor Sinto the spaces between the blades 27 of the inner and smaller `rotor 9, a continuous circulation of the grease being thus edected and resulting in a quiet,

\ ecient operation of the driven shaft 20.

llt is to be noted that the blades 34 are spacedv fromeach other at both ends and do not intersect, and that the same is true of the ribs 35, and that as the spent fluid passes from between the rotor blades 34 and passes into thepassages 33 for return to the impeller, it isunimpeded -and does not,g therefore, exert a drag upon the rotor 8 since the spent fluid returning through passages 33 ds not have contact with the rotor 8.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into eifect, this is capable of variation and modification, without depart-n ing from the spirit of the invention. l, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of, constructionset forth, but desire* to avail myself of such variations and modifi;- cations as come within the scope ofthe ap.- pended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new and desiref-to protect by Letters Patent js: l

1. In combinati-on with a drive and driven aeeaesi cluding arcuate ribs on the inside of its side walls, stationary discs disposed over the inner ends of said ribs and cooperating with said ribs and with said walls to provide passages between said discs, a rotor fast on thev driven shaft and including side plates arranged in parallelism with and between said discs, said rotor including a plurality of blades arranged between said plates, said/ passages having communication with the interblade spaces of said rotor, an impeller fast spaces of said impeller whereby rotation of the drive shaft and the impeller will force said fluid against the blades of said rotor to rotate said rotor and driven shaft, said Huid then discharging from between the blades of said .rotor into said passages and returning lto the interblade spaces of said impeller through said openings. I

2. ln combination with a drive and a driven shaft, a transmission structure comprising a fluid containing housing including side walls and ribson the inner side of each of said walls, a stationary disc over each set of ribs and forming with said ribs and walls passages, a rotor fast on the driven shaft and including side plates arranged in parallelism with and rotatable between said discs, said rotor including a plurality of radially arranged blades arranged between said side plates. an impeller fast on the drive shaft and including radially arranged blades rotatable between said plates, said passages having communication with the interblade spaces of said rotor, said plates and discs having openings therein providing communication between the interblade spaces of said Vimpeller and said passages whereby rotation of -said drive shaft and impeller and the centrifugal vforce imparted thereby 'to `said fluid will rotate said rotor and driven shaft and said fluid be thus continuously cirpeller .and rotor.

rea

3. A Huid transmission comprising a drive.

and a driven shaft,la housing adapted to contain a Huid power transmitting medium, a rotor in said housing fast on the driven shaft and including approximately radial blades and side plates rotatable with said blades and between which said blades arey arranged, an impeller Afast on the drive shaft and inelud- ,said plates and in parallelism therewith,

said discs and plates having openings formed ing radial blades shorter than said rotor.

shaft, a transmission structure comprising a/ therein about the centers thereof, and ribs Y housing adapted tojcontaln a fluid and ininsaid housing providing with said discs and 13 the walls of said housing passages communicating with said lopenings and with the me terblade spaces of said rotor whereby said fluid may be continuouslycirculated by said impeller blades a ainst and between said rotor blades to be discharged directly from the latter into said passages and be returned through said passages and openings to the interblade spaces of said impeller,

4. A. Huid transmission comprising a drive and a driven shaft, a housing adapted to contain a fluid power transmitting medium, a rotor in said housing fast 0n the driven shaft and including approximately radial blades and side plates rotatable with said blades and between which said blades are arranged, an impeller fast on the drive shaft and including radial blades shorter than said rotor blades and rotatable between said side plates, a stationary disc `on the outer side of each of said plates and in parallelism therewith, said discs and plates having openings formed therein about the centersthereof, and ribs in said housing providing with said discs and the walls of said housing passages communieating with said openings and with the interblade spaces of said rotor whereby said fluid may be continuously circulated by said impeller blades against and between said rotor blades to rotate said motor and be discharged therefromnto said passages and from said passages bereturned through said openings into the interblade spaces of said impeller, said ribs being spaced from each other at both ends. and extending laterally toward said discs. t

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.v

.EDWIN MURPIIY. 

